In Decline? This is no time to write America’s obituary

The Associated Press
SLOWING JUGGERNAUT: Workers assemble cars at a BAIC factory in south China’s Hunan province. Economists report that China’s once-overheated economy has slowed due to weakening export demand and consumer spending, raising the threat of job losses and possible social unrest.

Forget Gibbon's "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Now the doom-sayers declare it’s time to chronicle America’s decline.

Actually, it’s already a cottage industry, as Edward Luce describes in his new book, “Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent.” Just look at us, the critics say: a nation that hardly manufactures anything any more; dependent on China for everything from toasters to debt bailouts.

Not only are jobs disappearing and incomes declining, the critics say, but Americans have gone soft — witness the obesity epidemic, the national addiction to TV, junk food and government entitlements.

The infrastructure crumbles, schools fail, politics is by turns curdled and paralyzed. Yes, these are troubling times in America. And if there’s one thing Americans can do, it’s complain about their troubles. Indeed, as early as 1788, Patrick Henry was missing the days “when the American spirit was in its youth.”

But while America may have some fine years behind it — and some not-so-fine years too, to be frank — its best years may yet lie ahead.

For one thing, America remains a leading global manufacturer, still accounting for one-quarter of the world’s gross domestic product. While America no longer builds Etch-a-Sketch and transistor radios, the pharmaceutical, medical instrument, environmental technology and nanotechnology sectors are booming — not to mention the U.S. auto industry. From old manufacturing hubs like Syracuse and Rochester come reports of “Phoenix industries” rising with new manufacturing and economic vitality.

Yes, the so-called BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China — are coming on strong. But take a closer look at these economic juggernauts. Russia’s economy is in the twin grip of the Kremlin and a culture of gangster capitalists. Alcoholism and other social ills remain rampant. Restive enclaves like Chechnya vie with a regime more in tune with the Czars and the Politburo than a modern democracy.

China combines creaky Maoist totalitarianism with unbridled capitalism — a dubious model generating headlines about harassed dissidents, unchecked pollution, leadership friction and currency and trade manipulation. China’s per capita income of $8,400 is half that of Argentina. Hundreds of millions of Chinese in the countryside don’t share in the spoils — a time bomb waiting to explode.

India is the world’s largest democracy. However, its growing economy is not lifting all boats: Per capita income is $3,700, and most of its 1.3 billion people remain impoverished, while ethnic and religious tensions pose a continuing challenge.

Brazil’s $11,600 per capita income is impressive — though just one-quarter of America’s. Income distribution and poverty remain endemic, and Brazil’s growth rate is far behind that of China — or oil-rich Venezuela.

The U.S. political system is marred by gridlock, corrosive campaigns, the overweening influence of money and voter apathy. But this remains a diverse, competitive, open society. And you can be sure neither party gets away with anything.

The United States remains the world’s leader in innovation, practical applications and problem-solving. That’s because this is a free society, a land of opportunity — and renewal. A nation in decline? Not hardly. Not yet. Not ever.